A/N: I don't own The Sound of Music.
This is my first story on this site. Please review!
Pairing: Baroness Elsa Schraeder/ Max Detweiler. Mentioned Baroness/Captain Von Trapp and Captain Von Trapp/ Maria.
She hadn't lied when she told Georg that he wasn't the man for her. Oh, she had enjoyed his company, his wit, his charm, his style of living. There was no denying that.
She had fought tooth and nail to keep that source of entertainment. To possess him.
She'd smiled and acted concerned and frightened off the woman that he truly loved. The Baroness was a jealous sort, and she had long since set her sights on Captain Von Trapp.
She even convinced him to marry her.
He didn't want to marry her. She knew that.
She didn't care much, not really. Perhaps that was cruel. Perhaps she was cruel. She had long since stopped caring about other people's feelings.
She always got what she wanted, no matter how much work it took on her part. (Just ask her first husband.)
But Georg wasn't what she wanted. It only took her a few rounds of ball and a governess's return to realize that.
She needed someone who needed her, she told him. Or, at least, someone who needed her money.
They each thought of someone during that fateful conversation.
Georg thought of that governess, Maria. Elsa thought of Max. Silly, scheming Max.
It only took her getting engaged to another man for her to realize how she felt.
He had always been able to make her laugh. He had always given her advice. He had always supported her in her own schemes. He was always there for her.
She was terribly fond of him, but she knew that she would never tell him that.
For one thing, he wasn't exactly of the same level as her, socially.
For another, they were both too alike for them to not tear each other apart.
They were greedy and selfish and smart and sneaky and crafty and mad.
Yes, she and Max were too alike for anything to come of them; they both used people too terribly to entrust their hearts to someone else.
So, she left the countryside and returned to sparkling Vienna. She left Georg and the governess, and the children, and Max.
And if she hid her discontent behind a glass of champagne and a flirtatious smile, well, no one had to know.
